Xia Manni felt that the situation was a bit serious. The weather was so cold now that people could wear cotton clothes.
This morning she even asked her eldest son to move the chicken coop and rabbit hutch into the main room. It smells a bit, but it's better than freezing to death.
Xia Manni was worried that if she let the children wear cotton clothes now, they would not feel warm when it got even colder later, so she gave each child the animal skin vests she had made earlier.
"Mom, are we still going to burn charcoal in such a cold weather?" Big Boy said, looking at Potato who was reluctant to run outside.
"We have to go. The temperature has dropped so quickly in just three days. It's unlikely to rise again. We have to prepare the charcoal. Sanwa and Sinier, don't go. I'll go with you brothers."
"Why, mother? Sanwa wants to go. Sanwa has never seen how to burn charcoal." Sanwa felt very bored when he thought that Sinier, who was the only one left with wood, was at home with him.
"Mom, I'm going too." Si Ni'er said firmly. Besides really wanting to go, it can be seen that she also dislikes Sanwa.
Xia Manni thought about it and decided that since it might be even colder back there, it would be better to let them adapt in advance.
The family of five went up the mountain as usual, but Xia Manni found that more and more people went up the mountain to prepare firewood recently.
"Hello, Manier." Xia Manni turned around and saw that it was Zhang Cuiling.
"Hey, Sister Cuiling, are you going up the mountain to chop firewood?" Xia Manni looked at Zhang Cuiling, who was carrying a machete and wearing old clothes. It seemed that she was also going to chop firewood.
"That's right. The whole village is anxiously preparing firewood now." She glanced at Xia Manni's confused look and continued, "Don't you know? I heard Second Aunt say it was you who told us to prepare firewood quickly, otherwise we'll be freezing this year."
Xia Manni: “…”
At this point, Xia Manni still had something to not understand. It must be because she became famous that her words became the golden rule.
She held her forehead and smiled, explaining: "I just..."
"Hey, Manelle, don't I know you? You must have just said something like that, a rumor spread by those loud speakers."
"Puchi..." After Zhang Cuiling finished speaking, Erwa and Sanwa couldn't help but laugh out loud.
It was only then that Zhang Cuiling noticed the children behind Xia Manni. She originally thought that only the eldest child was following Xia Manni, but she didn't expect that all four children in the family followed her.
"Sister Manni, I'm telling you, the weather is so cold now, why are you still letting the children work?" Zhang Cuiling thought that Xia Manni was forcing the children to work. As a mother herself, she couldn't stand this the most.
"Auntie, it's us who are coming here." Erwa explained aloud, feeling a little angry.
"Yes, auntie, you see how warmly we are dressed." Sanwa said, pointing to the animal skin vest on his body.
"Sister Cuiling, I don't want them to come out with me, especially the two little ones. But then I think about how the weather is getting colder, and the children can't stay indoors all the time. It wouldn't be a bad thing to let them adapt in advance."
Zhang Cuiling already had a good impression of Xia Manni, and she felt that her explanation made sense. She wanted to wait until the afternoon and let her two children come out to help with the work.
After saying goodbye to Zhang Cuiling, Xia Manni went to find a place at the foot of the mountain to chop firewood. She said she was burning charcoal, but in fact she was just putting the chopped firewood together and burning it.
When burning, you need to cover it with soil so that charcoal can be produced. This method is simple but will produce a lot of smoke.
"Erwa, take your brothers and sisters and dig a shallow pit about one meter deep here. Then add some soil to the side. Mom and your eldest brother will come to find you after they finish chopping firewood."
This kind of thing was not difficult for Erwa. He patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, Mom. Erwa will definitely be able to do it well."
Xia Manni nodded in relief. Erwa would get into fights almost every day when they weren't in the mountains, but thankfully they were minor fights, usually triggered by someone saying something unpleasant to him. If someone's parents came looking for her, Xia Manni would take Erwa with her to apologize.
There were also some people who went too far and asked Xia Manni to compensate them with eggs and meat. Xia Manni naturally refused to agree, so she stood by and beat Erwa a few times to let them vent their anger.
These days they went up the mountain to work again, and Erwa no longer went out to fight and cause trouble.
Xia Manni took the eldest child and threw the chopped firewood into the shallow pit dug by the second child, then covered it with soil and started burning charcoal.
The reason why not many people do things like burning charcoal is because it produces too much smoke. If there is a kiln here, it will save her trouble.
Perhaps the winters here are not that cold, so there is only one charcoal kiln in the surrounding villages and it is far away from Xia Manni.
Xia Manni deliberately found a place that was sheltered from the wind and far away from the foot of the mountain. Even so, the villagers going up and down the mountain could see the Xia family burning charcoal.
"Isn't this Manni? What are you doing here?" Qiao Niang took her husband to the mountain to chop firewood today. Who knew that she would see Xia Manni with her face covered in dust at the foot of the mountain.
She almost didn't recognize her. Manny's face was originally fair and juicy, and who could recognize her in such a dark complexion?
"Aunt Qiao, cough cough cough, please move away from the smoke." Xia Manni pulled Aunt Qiao aside to talk.
Ever since Xia Manni started bringing firewood home, no one at the village entrance stopped chatting and everyone went out to chop firewood.
"I just want to light some charcoal to save some energy when it gets cold."
Unexpectedly, after Xia Manni finished speaking, Aunt Qiao and her husband both looked at her like she was stupid. "It's okay for Manni to chop wood. I understand you came here the first time. We don't burn charcoal in the winter here."
In winter, they just need to cover their beds with extra quilts. Few people burn charcoal, and even if they do, they can just buy some at the market to get through the winter.
Xia Anni smiled, and the black and gray on her face made her teeth look whiter.
"I have nothing to do anyway, so I'll just burn it for two days and then stop." After saying this, Xia Manni didn't plan to continue on this topic. She was really afraid that it would get out that she was the one who said that charcoal must be burned.
Aunt Qiao and her husband didn't chat with Xia Manni for too long. However, on the way back, Aunt Qiao started to think more and more that something was wrong. This time, she didn't mention it to her sisters, but went to burn charcoal the next day.
However, Xia Manni didn't know this yet. She was now preparing to carry the burned charcoal back home. She felt that it should be enough to burn for another day tomorrow.
Unexpectedly, at night, the village chief came to Xia Manni's house in a rage.
"Xia Manni, come out here." The village chief stood in the yard with his hands on his hips, looking very angry.
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